Jai and A.K. Paul and Years & Years

Within the past month or so, many lesser known artist have emerged out of the summer heat and released top notch music music that will make your summer days much more enjoyable. Every new band or artist try to make their music their very own by creating a new sound that changes the way we all feel when listening. In some cases, an artists attempt to create a completely original sound slams down and burns into a pile of ashes before they can tweak it into something beautiful. But, in Jai Paul's case, he managed to make music that created so much hype that someone felt the need to steal and leak his debut album.

Those of you who follow the electronic music scene may remember what happened to Jai Paul. For those who don't, he started out by releasing two very successful singles "BTSTU" and "Jasmine". If you've played "Grand Theft Auto V" you've probably heard "Jasmine" without realizing it. Both pieces are what would be considered electro-soul. They are both very smooth and flowing, while giving off a bit of a darker vibe, but manage to make you want to get up and move to the beat. Back in 2013, Jai was working on his debut album, and had many people, fans and critics alike, sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the album to drop. In April, the 16 tracks of his upcoming album were leaked onto bandcamp. Many people saw this, and believed he had released the album early. To heighten the fans belief, a representative from XL Records tweeted "Surprise!". As many people were buying the album and spreading the news of it's release around the internet, Jai and XL Records both released statements stating that the music put up for sale was not the official release and neither of them were getting the money that was being paid for the music. It was then released the Jai's laptop had been stolen and the music was illegally leaked. XL Records managed to get the leaked music off the internet and refund everyone that bought the music. Since then, Jai has not released any new music and rumor is that he is retired from the music business now. 

Now that you know the basic story of Jai Paul, let's talk about his brother. His brother, A.K. Paul, just recently emerged into the music world a week or so ago. He teamed up with another upcoming artist known as Nao, to create a beautiful piece called "So Good". Now, A.K. has his own style, but his music does resemble a lot of Jai's style. Seeing how much this song blew up, it's definite that A.K. has a chance to redeem the Paul name and  create some amazing music. And Nao now has the praise of many people for her wonderful vocals that helped bring the song together. Instead of describing what it sounds like, I'll let you be the judge:  

Years & Years

Actor Olly Alexander has been known for playing many roles in British cinema. Here in the U.S. you may not have heard of him, but lucky for you, he is now the front man of the amazing trio Years & Years! I originally found these boys through the French record label Maison Kitsune, who is responsible for starting the careers of amazing bands and artists like Two Door Cinema Club, St. Lucia, Madeon, and Heartsrevolution. When I found them, they only had one EP out, "Traps", which had two slower paced songs that build up into something I can't manage to keep out of my head, they're titled "Traps" and "You & I". Both songs had me immediately hooked and looking for more. So, I searched itunes and Spotify only to nothing more. My search ended up on Youtube, where I managed to find one song that they released called "I Wish I knew". This song had a music video to go with it, but it has since been taken down. Although you can still find recordings of the song posted by other users of Youtube.
This trio was featured on Maison Kitsune's "New Faces" compilation, where they had a new song titled "Real". Word that they were to be featured on this compilation is where I started my search for their older music like "Traps" and "I Wish I Knew". As I waited in high anticipation, Years & Years announced that they were releasing a new EP titled "Real" to go along with the new single. The EP was released about two weeks before Kitsune's "New Faces" was dropped. The new EP features the song "Real" which I immediately fell in love with. The soulful vocals of Olly Alexander, matched with the great synths behind him along with the percussion that makes you want to get up and move to the beat. The EP features four remixes of "Real" along with one other song titled "Eyes Shut" that puts a cherry on top of their second EP.
And now, a new single has been released and has me, and many other fans hitting the play button over and over again! This new single titled "Take Shelter" is a joyful, soulful piece that gets you moving on the first beat. The beautifully layered song has me discovering new sounds within it that make it even better with each listen. Years & Years have announced that they have been shooting the music video for "Take Shelter" and hope to be releasing it soon. And I honestly can't wait!

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